Yahoo! Search Marketing and Compete, Inc. Find Internet Search Influences Wireless Purchase Behavior

Business Wire, August 22, 2005

PASADENA, Calif. -- Yahoo! Search Marketing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!, Inc. and Compete, Inc., a leading predictive analytics firm, today announced key findings from a new study, "The Role of Search in the Wireless Market." The study, which tracked Internet search and transaction activity about wireless services over a 12-month period found that search plays a distinctive role in the decision making process of consumers looking to purchase wireless products and services.

For the report, Compete analyzed the online behavior of its panel of two million Internet users as well as a survey of over 785 Internet users that used search to help them with their most recent wireless purchase over a 12-month period. The study observed both Web search and sponsored search results across Yahoo!, Google, Ask Jeeves, MSN, Lycos and Hotbot.

Key findings from the study include:

--The number of consumers searching online for wireless services is growing. By year's end 23.9 million consumers will perform a search online for wireless service, representing over $12.6 billion in potential annual service revenue. The number of consumers that used search to aid in their wireless purchase decision has increased 72% from 2004.

--Search is a primary decision making tool for consumers in the market for wireless products and services. 66% of the wireless purchasers surveyed stated they had not established a desired service provider before searching and subsequently evaluated two or more providers before making their purchase.

--Search influences wireless purchases. Offline wireless purchasers that were surveyed who used search to research described it as the media source that most influenced their eventual purchase decision.

--Wireless searchers are valuable customers. Across the top 5 wireless carriers included in the study (Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless), customers who arrive at one of these sites as a result of a search are nearly three times more likely to sign up for online self-care than non-searching consumers. In addition, these searchers have 17% more online self-care sessions per month than non-searchers.

"The complexity and importance of wireless service has driven consumers online to gather the best, and most relevant, information. Search is not only a navigational feature of this activity, but a fundamental component of 'who' and 'where' consumers will evaluate," said TJ Mahony, Managing Director with Compete.

"For wireless marketers, understanding the significant impact search has on offline purchases is critical to building a successful multi-channel marketing strategy," said David Rubinstein, Telecommunications Category Director for Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Compete will host a live Web seminar on September 22, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. EST to present the full research findings. The seminar will be led by David Rubinstein, Telecommunications Category Director for Yahoo! Search Marketing and TJ Mahony, Managing Director with Compete.

Registration for the Web seminar is free and is accessible at the following link: https://compx11.eventcenterlive.com/cfmx/ec/register/reg.cfm?BID=1&Reg ID=BBFECA83 (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s mission is to provide online products and services essential to consumers' lives and offer a full range of marketing solutions to enable businesses to connect with Yahoo!'s hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

About Compete

Compete provides the earliest indication of actual consumer behavior available, which gives clients the information needed to improve the effectiveness of customer acquisition, servicing, cross-sell and retention. Compete has proven that online data on consumer behavior is a predictive indicator of total demand and purchase intent - both offline and online. Compete leverages its database of the daily behavior of more than 10 million online consumers to offer predictive analytics, which Compete's industry experts interpret to provide clear recommendations for action. Since launching its services Compete has provided major auto manufacturers, financial services companies and wireless carriers with a unique vantage point on their customers and competitors not previously available. For more information visit http://www.compete.com.